Chapter 34—Paradise

by Bocchan13

Three pairs of eyes turned towards Song Yu, whose mouth hasn’t had time to close. He closed his jaw shut in embarrassment, his eyes dropping down.

“He needs help. If you pull it out now and cauterize it…it will get infected quickly. Not to mention, if there is an open wound out here…he might get the zombie virus.” Lu Jingxiu’s eyes whittled down to slits as he inadvertently tightened his hold on the branch. Lan Zhou moaned again at the pain.

“Song Yu…what are you getting at? We don’t have any medical equipment right now. We have to take it out before it gets worse.”

Lan Zhou’s hand was still holding Song Yu’s. Song Yu’s breathing was getting heavy whilst his heart beat crazily.

“I can take you to a place where there is medical help.” All eyes widened, even Yu Ci who was next to the unconscious Xiao Zi.

“Where?” Song Yu’s palms sweated. Was he really going to do this?

What the fuck were you thinking? They’re going to kill you and take your base. They’re going to see so much. They’re going to backstab you.

The niggling voice echoed in his head.

Or they will find that you can purify things and make you a slave again. They will all take your body in the middle of the night and throw you in the basement. You will live your reborn life purifying whatever they want.

Don’t take the risk. They are all liars. No one will save you. Let Lan Zhou die. Is he that important to you??

Song Yu paused. He remembered last night; Lan Zhou had looked at him with desperate eyes of sadness as he told him of how he tried to find him. A man who could spill out his heart to the heartless him. Could he give him a chance?

Stop! You can’t! They’re all liars! You see Lu Jingxiu? He said he wouldn’t abandon his family, but can you really believe that?

Shut up!

The minute they step foot in your base, they will take over. Everything we built will go to waste!

Shut up!

We were smart and bought and scrimped and made! We were cautious and happy alone, weren’t we?

He was happy and content alone. But…he needed to save Lan Zhou.

Get out of my head!

The voice went silent, but deep down inside; Song Yu could feel that the voice of reason was angry. He was angry with himself.

That question that popped up, was he happy alone?

He spent 2 years alone with Derpy, Squinty and the animals. He could lay down when he wanted to, do work when he wanted to, and sleep when he wanted to. The freedom and independence he guaranteed himself was indeed a wondrous thing.

But those lonely nights when woken up from a nightmare, only to walk through his empty home until the sun rose….or that brief warmth of someone else’s hand, that comforting smell of someone next to you, or the faint laughter after telling a joke.

Song Yu might have underestimated how much he missed human interaction.

But was it worth it?

Looking at the sweat dripping down the sides of Lan Zhou’s cheeks, he felt that the voice of reason was right…but it was also wrong. He could not trust this group, but he could help them.

“I can take you somewhere…but you guys cannot know where it is. If you follow all of my requests, I can help you. Trust that I will bring you to the location.”

Lu Jingxiu wanted to argue, but Song Yu cut him off.

“He doesn’t have much time. He needs medical attention and the place is extremely far. Please,” Song Yu looked at Lu Jingxiu with cold but resolved eyes.

“Follow me.”

Lan Zhou looked between the two, his heart beating faster. Was Song Yu willing to trust him? Was he bringing him to his home? Looking at the unconscious Xiao Zi and the exhausted group, Lan Zhou could only nod in ascent.

“We will go with you.”

 Lu Jingxiu turned to Lan Zhou, “We barely know this person. Yes, he saved Yu Ci and helped us, but I still don’t trust him!”

Lan Zhou patted Lu Jingxiu’s knee.

“Believe that I trust him. He won’t hurt us.”

Lu Jingxiu gritted his teeth and let go of the branch. Glaring at Song Yu, his entire aura emitted aversion and distaste.

“What do you want us to do?”

Song Yu sighed, his throat parched. He took a small sip of water from his water bottle before he started.

“Considering Wang Cheng’s space, everyone can fit inside comfortably. Everyone goes inside and I’ll blindfold Wang Cheng. It would usually have taken 4 hours, but my horse can ride faster and we can make it in 2.”

Lu Jingxiu wanted to argue. This was a precarious predicament. He couldn’t trust Song Yu not to do anything. He could sell them to the Sun Base or starve them inside the space by threatening Wang Cheng. The disadvantages were limitless.

But he trusted Lan Zhou. And Lan Zhou said that Song Yu wouldn’t harm them.

Why? Why does he trust Song Yu so much?

Lan Zhou looked at Lu Jingxiu and shook his head.

“We said we would follow all of his requests. If Wang Cheng gets in danger, we would know.”

Lan Zhou gestured for Wang Cheng to start.

Wang Cheng was slightly on guard as he put Yu Ci and Xiao Zi first before Lu Jingxiu and finally Lan Zhou.

“I’ll see you in 2 hours.”

“Hopefully this dude knows where to go.”

Lan Zhou nodded and disappeared into the space, leaving Wang Cheng and Song Yu in the empty space. Song Yu whistled and Derpy came forward, his hair gleaming in the light.

“Get his saddle out. We need to go fast.” Wang Cheng took out the saddle and watched as Song Yu put it on Derpy with ease. He watched as the man and horse communicated with such friendliness and trust, it made his quite envious.

“Where did you get a horse? Was it wild born?”

Song Yu wanted to ignore the question, but decided that if they were going to spend some time together, then he should be civil.

“I got him before the apocalypse—”

“Wow! I always wanted a horse, but my summer house is closer to the tourist-y areas, so I was scared the horse would get spooked, it’s an interesting story, you see I…” Song Yu faded him out, as he got on Derpy.

“Get on. It will be a long ride.” Wang Cheng shut up, taking a while to get on as well since the saddle should only have been for one person. Finally on, Song Yu passed a black cloth to Wang Cheng.

“Put this on. If you so much as move it a little bit, I will stop and drop you to the zombies, you hear?”

Wang Cheng hurriedly took the cloth and bound in around his eyes and ears.

“Yes sir!” Song Yu smiled lightly, his mood a little bit better.

“Good.”

Patting Derpy’s nape, he spoke softly.

“If you can get back to the base in less than 2 hours, I will give you your favorite candy fruit. How’s that?”

Derpy nodded his head in excitement. Yay!

“Kay, let’s go.” Derpy took off at a run, causing Wang Cheng to jolt and hold onto Song Yu’s waist.

“AHH! He’s going too fast!! This is faster than a car, what the hell?”

Derpy was indeed faster than a normal racehorse. The virus not only made the animals sentient, it also amplified their natural talents. Derpy’s speed and endurance was akin to supercars ranging almost 200 mph, and his endurance at this speed was close to 4 hours with minor breaks.

Song Yu was used to this riding speed, but Wang Cheng who had been driving clunky apocalypse jeeps was not. Not even twenty minutes later, he was getting sick from the speed and the euphoria of his sight and hearing being obscured.

“Gonna barf!”

Song Yu turned to see Wang Cheng’s green face, but couldn’t help him. Derpy would not stop until they reached the base.

“Just throw up on the side.”

“Bllarrrrrfffjjbfjh!” Wang Cheng upchucked his miniscule breakfast and got a little better, but not before getting side-eyed from Derpy who felt some splatter on his hind legs.

You will pay for it later!

At the hour mark, Wang Cheng had gotten used to the speed and was now trying to make conversation with Song Yu with minimal results. When they reached the gate, Song Yu checked his watch and sure enough, Derpy had reached home in 1 hour 42 minutes. He patted Derpy’s neck in appreciation and clicked the button to open the gates.

Song Yu felt apprehension ever since reaching. Gulping down his beating heart he brought in the first group to come into his paradise since the apocalypse.